- The Birmingham Post comment
- The Birmingham Post article
- Melanie Phillips' article
- Police: "you can't preach here, this is a Muslim area" (1/6/08)
The solicitors' letter to the police- Press release (1/6/08)
- Radical Islam set to fill values gap, says Bishop (28/5/08)
- Archbishop says UK should allow aspects of Sharia law (7/2/08)
- Religious liberty index
The Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate allegations that a police officer in Birmingham told two Christian church workers, "you can't preach here, this is a Muslim area."
Lawyers for the two church workers sent a strongly worded letter to West Midland Police last week saying the police action infringed human rights laws on free speech and religious liberty.
The incident happened to Mr Arthur Cunningham and Mr Joseph Abraham as they were handing out Christian tracts on the corner of Ellesmere and Alum Rock Road in the city on 19 February this year.
A statement from the force read: "As a result of correspondence received on behalf of Mr Cunningham and Mr Abraham appealing our decision in relation to their complaint we have referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
"In light of this referral we are unable to comment on the details of this case, however West Midlands Police would like to reassure all communities that there are not any 'no go' areas in the West Midlands Police area and we will defend the rights of the individual to freedom of expression and religious faiths."
It is not the first time that West Midlands Police have been criticised for their actions when dealing with incidents involving free speech and Islam.
Last month West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service were ordered to pay out £50,000 in damages and £50,000 in costs to Channel 4 after a High Court ruling found that they had libelled the makers of the Dispatches documentary, 'Undercover Mosque'.
The police and the CPS had wrongly accused the film makers of unfairly editing the footage and stirring up racial hatred.
The film featured Muslim preachers from a mosque in Birmingham making statements including: "take that homosexual and throw him off the mountain" and "whoever changes his religion from Al Islam to anything else - kill him in the Islamic state".